


To the Twelfth Hour

by JayMitchell



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2015-01-24
Packaged: 2018-03-08 19:56:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3221432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayMitchell/pseuds/JayMitchell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie Skinner is the kind of  man who won’t let arguments go past twelve hours. Today is the first time he’ll do so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on an askacn AU between askcharlieskinner and askleonalansing - one of the many I share and discuss with missatomicbomb77, to whom, I give thanks for keeping up with me on the ideas.

It’s nine in the morning on a Monday and Charlie Skinner was no where to be found.

Which, wasn’t really odd for everyone at ACN. Charlie clocks in at ten, and being the news division president, he had the power to do so. But he’s been coming in early for months now, and while talk of troubles were abound, the reason was far from the rumours everyone shared.

Charlie comes in early because he spends an hour with Leona, just to be with her.

It was for this reason that Leona came to their floor, checking to see if Charlie was there. They had a big fight the night before, over the phone no less. And while she still insists that Charlie was being overprotective, the way Charlie treated her like a child did not sit well for her.

However, it wasn’t like Charlie to let a fight go over twelve hours. Back then, even in Cambodia, Charlie rarely starts fights, but he surely takes the first step to finish them. He’d have some kind of peace offering, in the form of food or a back massage, and say sorry even if it was not his fault.

It’s nine-o-five when she knocks at Will’s glass door, entering as she made her presence known.

Will and Mac suddenly placed some distance between them; Leona thinks she caught them in between a morning cuddle session, but instead of rolling her eyes at them, she smiles. Once upon a time, she admitted to Charlie that she’s envious of the two, because they are able to flaunt their relationship to the public. Charlie counters with a smile, tells her that he’d rather have a few people know about their relationship, but he will never hesitate to tell the whole world that he loves her.

(She remembers the pause on his end, when she angrily reminded him that she has a life outside their apartment.)

“Good morning, Will, Mac… I am sorry to disturb you but… Have you seen Charlie around? I…” She pauses, thinks of a good enough reason to have Charlie Skinner in the office at nine in the morning.

“I scheduled a meeting with him about Right Now’s numbers, and-“

A mail boy knocks, entering without care. Probably new, to be able to barge in without batting an eyelash at the presence of Leona Lansing. 

“Mr. McAvoy? Urgent package.” he says as he settles the box on his desk and hands him a paper to sign. 

Will raises an eyebrow as he signs. “Say good morning to Mrs. Lansing,” he says, as he nods to her direction.

The boy looks to the direction to where Will nodded and replies, “A Mrs. Lansing? I have a package for her too. Urgent.” As soon as he said this, he left the office only to return with a package similar to the one Will just received. Leona eyes the package with suspicion, while signing off her name.

“Good morning ma’am, sir.” the mail boy said as he made his exit for good.

“As I was saying Will, I have a meeting with Charlie, and he hasn’t showed up! I called Millie and she hasn’t seen him either. I thought you two were planning something or getting drunk early in the morning.” Leona said as Will laughed and started opening his package.

He shook his head in reply. “Not that Charlie called up or anything,” he glanced at his office phone. There were missed calls and voice mails when he checked it this morning, but none came form Charlie.

"Shall I give Don and Elliot time to prepare themselves for a morning shouting match?" Mac joked as she made her way to the door.

“No, but call me up if you get in touch with Charlie, because I will kick his ass-“

Leona stopped when she saw the look of confusion on Will’s face.

The package contained a smaller box, held together by a red and black checkered bow tie.

“What the…”

Will opened it and took out a white iPhone.

Leona looked at it, then at the package she held. She started to open hers as well. 

Hers was tied up by a red and black striped neck tie she could’ve sworn Reese owned. The smaller box contained a black iPhone.

"Jesus Christ!" Will exclaimed as he dropped the iPhone. Mac walked to his side to take a look, only to gasp out loud and cover her mouth.

"What's the matter?"

Will could only point at the now discarded phone.

The display went to sleep, so Leona had to fire it up again.

Leona's world froze on 9:15 that morning.

—

He woke up with his head screaming in pain.

At first it was pitch black, but he could’ve sworn he opened his eyes. It took time to adjust, but there it was.

Darkness.

He was regaining consciousness, and sense, so he started to asses his situation. He was blindfolded, only explanation to it, as he felt the knot at the back of his head. He was handcuffed, hands behind his back, and though he was seated, his ankles too were cuffed to the legs of the chair. His neck did feel free, and he realized - he wasn’t wearing his bow tie. He could hear radio static coming out from his left and right, and he could feel the sun’s rays shining through on his back.

Other than the pain, he thinks he’s fine. With the exception of being bound to the chair.

“Hello?” he asks out, weakly at first. He repeats, and it has strength now, and he repeats, each attempt definitely being better than the last.

The radio static on the right side went off for a while, until there was a response.

“Hello? Anyone there?”

He could have had a heart attack right there.

“Reese?”

A pause, and then a response from the other side.

“Charlie?”

What the hell was going on?

—

The two iPhones were side by side on the top of Will's desk.

The black one showed Reese, handcuffed to the chair, unconscious, light bruises on his cheek and neck evident. His blue tie was used as a blindfold, his shirt and jacket showing cuts and tears.

The white one showed Charlie, in the same scenario, checkered bowtie as a blindfold, though he had a gash in his forehead and the bruise on his cheek was starting to swell.

Both wallpapers look like they were taken from Snapchat, as words were written against the pictures; CALL THE AUTHORITIES, the one for Reese said, AND THEY DIE, the one for Charlie.

There was a fourth person in the Will's office now, a tall, rather stocky man whom Will knew as the head of AWM's security. Leona had called for him when she saw the wallpaper of the white iPhone, then spent a list of profanities when she saw the wallpaper of the black one.

Matthew. His name was Matthew.

Will was trying to remain calm; it was safe to say he was failing miserably. At 9:20, he insisted that they should not give in to the demands of whoever it was that had Charlie and Reese. By 9:35, his tone changed, when Matthew had urged Will to calm down, while simultaneously reaching out to his other contacts.

Nine forty-five, and it only dawned to Will to check on Leona. 

She had taken a seat in Will's meeting corner, quiet, and if she was worried, she was doing a good job not showing it. She had to be - two of her high ranking employees are taken as hostage, one of them happened to be her son.

Will envied her sense of control.

He was about to ask her when another man went into his office without much of an announcement. The tall, lanky man went straight to Matthew, all the while avoiding eye contact with Leona. 

"Well?!?" She burst out, looking at the lanky man.

Everyone in the room almost jumped out of their skin.

The lanky guy spoke up, his British accent only adding to the confusion in Will's mind. 

"Ma'am, Marc was found beaten bloody outside Mr. Skinner's apartment building. The place looks roughed up as hell, though there's no trace of forced entry. All windows are still locked up. I already requested for a copy of the security footage of the weekend."

Matthew raised his hand.

"Marc has been unconscious for two days?"

The man shook his head. "Neighbors took him to New York Presbyterian, they thought it was some mugging until the guard recognized him as Mr. Skinner's bodyguard. I called them up, he's been there since yesterday evening."

At this, Will spoke up. "First of all, who the fuck are you and second, since when did Charlie need a body guard?"

Lanky looked at Will, then to Matthew, Leona, then back to Will. "I apologize sir," he started. "Paul Dermott, I'm part of Mr. Skinner security detail." 

Matthew shot him a look that may have meant he said too much. Nevertheless, Matthew extended his hand, and provided his introduction. "Matthew Stein, head of AWM security. And head of the security detail."

The hand he had extended was met with confusion.

"Security DETAIL. You're talking about him as if he's the president of a country. Has he been receiving threats? And there's a third guy... Charlie has three people protecting him?"

Matthew took control of the situation.

"Yes sir. He's been receiving death threats right after... Genoa." Matthew looked at Leona, who discreetly nodded her approval. He continued, "The threats were very alarming, Mrs. Lansing insisted on a security detail."

Will went to journalist mode, asking questions once the door was open. 

"Everyone who reported on Genoa received their share of death threats. Me, Mac, I'm betting my ass Dantana received some threats his way. How many threats did Charlie get for him to get three bodyguards?"

"Mr. McAvoy, I cannot go on the specifics of the threats-"

"I'm not asking you to be specific on the threats, I'm asking a simple question! How many -"

"WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP, MCAVOY!"

Leona now stood up, the explosion from the chair falling down was enough to silence both. 

"My son is in this too, in case you didn't notice? He's beaten and tied up, just like Charlie and we are wasting time here asking stupid questions - AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING TO GET THEM BACK!"

Her breathing was now labored, tears freely falling down her face. Will looked down, ashamed that for one moment, he had forgotten about the mother who just saw her son, his life being in grave danger.

Matthew seemed to feel the same sense of shame, though he was good at not showing it. He nodded at Paul, mouthed the words "Take over," and left the office. In turn, Paul went to Leona's side and held her, as Leona cried into his arms, clutching at the man's suit.

By this time, the people outside were stealing looks into his office. Mac took over for Will, as she placed a gentle hand on Leona's back. "We won't go into the specifics, but we need to tell something to staff. Better they know than them finding out from other sources."

Leona looks at her, collects herself as she nods her agreement. Mac smiles, racking her brain for anything to help out. 

"We'll try to check if we reported on anything that might have... Aggravated anyone. We'll also check if there was something we should have reported, but we didn't, simply because Charlie asked us to exercise caution after Genoa."

To Paul, she placed a serious look. "We can help, if you need anything, we will help to the best we can. Whoever this monster is, he took Charlie and Reese, that's something we are not taking lightly. I have very good researchers here, I have Neal - who is a very good IT guy, when he's not chasing Bigfoot. We can help."

Will pitches in, the least he could do at that moment.

"We'll tell them what we know. And that is, Charlie and Reese are in danger. We'll be pulling twice the work, but whatever. We're bringing Charlie and Reese home, okay?"

Leona faced Will, drying her eyes with the handkerchief Paul had offered.

"Do it well, take your time. Make Charlie proud."

Will nods, and, excusing himself and Mac, enters the bullpen.

"Emergency staff meeting, right now! To the conference room!" Mac yells over the commotion. Will starts ushering people from their desks.

Paul watches as the conference room is filled up with staff. He notes on the nervousness of some, the confusion of the others. He reads Mac's lips, "Settle down, settle down please..." She asks. It isn't enough,band it prompts Will to bang his palm on the table, his frustrated yell of "Shut the fuck up!" makes everyone, even him, jump out of their skin.

All eyes are on Mac, as she tells them. He picks up the words "Charlie", "Reese" and "Danger."

All have registered shock. Some voiced out clarifications, others were looking at each other to check if they heard right. Mac raised her hand, and the group went quiet. Mac tells them of the previously agreed on game plan.

Paul checks on Leona now, who is now seated on Will's chair. Her hands, clutched in prayer for the past minute or so. He watches, as her hand hovers on the white iPhone. She clicks on the power button, then does the same to the black one.

The tears fall down again, as she fights the urge to trace her finger on the screen.

Paul's watch beeps. Ten o'clock, the digital interface screams at him.

The long day has just begun.


	2. Chapter 2

His eyes adjust to the darkness.

 

Or at least they try to. He knows his eyes were open, and he wanted to see something, anything that could tell him what the hell was going on.

 

Did he become blind?

 

He starts to feel around, to find out that he couldn’t actually feel much. Movement was limited, thanks to him being cuffed to the chair he was seated on. He feels a knot at the back of his head, a pair of cuffs on his ankles, the heat of the morning streaming through, what he would assume to be, an open window.

 

He thinks, _I can’t see. I can’t move._

 

He starts to panic.

 

“Hello?” he hears on his left. It was a bit faint,  but there it was. He wants to yell, but his throat was dry. 

 

Still, he doesn’t care.

 

“Hello?” he answers back. “Anyone there?”

 

Now it’s a bit clearer, there’s radio static on his left, a fainter one on the right. 

 

His mind reels back to the voice he just heard. It couldn’t be.

 

“Reese?”

 

Oh no. Oh no oh no.

 

“Charlie?”

 

He prays he’s just hearing things.

 

* * *

 

It was Reese. Try as he might to deny it, the voice belonged to Reese, no matter how weak it seemed.

 

“Charlie?” Reese asks again, making Charlie swallow hard. _Calm, I have to keep him calm,_ his mind tells him. He hopes he can do so, while remembering to calm down himself.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

There’s a slight panic with his response. “I’m… I’m.. Jesus… I…”

 

So much for that attempt.

 

“Reese, listen to me. Relax. Take deep breaths. Tell me as much as you can about how you are right now.”

 

“Charlie, what the hell is going on?”

 

Charlie takes his own advice - breathing in deeply, visualising images of Reese being in the same predicament as he is right now. He prays to God that he’s not badly hurt.

 

“Reese, please. Try to be calm. You and I need to help each other out on this one.” 

 

Another deep breath.

 

“Tell me what you can, Reese.”

 

* * *

 

Panic had now set in. How the hell can Charlie remain calm? “If this is some joke Charlie…”

 

“Reese, I…” he hears him sigh. “It isn’t. Listen. Right now I am cuffed to a chair, my hands to my back, my legs to the chair. I’m blindfolded. When I woke up, my head had hurt, and right now I can feel that my chin might not be doing well. I can hear you from my right side, and I can feel the sun at the back of my neck.” A pause, then, “Can you do the same? Can you tell me how you are right now?”

 

It comes to Reese that Charlie was trying to keep him from going on a full panic mode - to keep him focused against… Whatever the hell this was.

 

Cooperation was the key.

 

“Almost… Almost the same as you are - cuffed to the chair, blindfolded. You’re coming in from the left, though… I don’t feel hurt in any way - I think.”

 

It’s a few minutes before Charlie comes back to him. “Oh thank God,” he says, before going out again.

 

“Charlie?” 

 

Silence, before he hears from him again.

 

“Yeah?”

 

——

 

“That’s good,” Charlie tells himself, at a pathetic attempt to grasp at any positive news in this scenario. Save for being immobile, Reese has told him he’s fine.

 

The pain he’s feeling, is starting to slow. But he has to keep on going.

 

“We’ve pretty much established that both of us are fine, yes?”

 

The response was a rather weak, unsure “Yes.”

 

“Let’s keep this going. Reese, listen okay… Can you tell me, what was the last thing you remember?”

 

* * *

 

Reese goes through the last memories he has. “Dinner,” he starts. “I was out for a dinner with-“

 

Oh no. This was not the time nor the place.

 

“It’s okay Reese. You don’t need to remember everything right now. You and I just… Need to get through this hell together okay?”

 

He almost laughs. If there was a time and place for Charlie to know, this might be a good one where he’d be safe from him.

 

_But who are you trying to be safe from, really?_ His mind nags him to go back to panicking.

 

But just as Charlie was trying to calm him down, the old man did not need any more reasons to be agitated.

 

He sure as hell wants to know what the fuck was going on.

 

* * *

 

_It was amusing, really, to hear Charlie talk Reese into remaining calm. After all, he had a way with words._

 

_This isn’t Reese’s fault. He’s merely collateral damage._

 

_A sick, twisted part of him wished there was a full video set-up as well. A functional video cam instead of a corner store CCTV- and then he would see the two squirm on their seats, fidgeting for freedom in a better quality than that of a CCTV._

 

_But this one had to be clean._

 

_This one had to do._

 

_“You and I need to stick together, the best we can.”_

 

_Oh Charlie Skinner, you really would try._

 

* * *

 

It was Reese’s turn.

 

“How about you?” he asks. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

 

“My apartment. Falling asleep to what I was reading. And to the sound of entertainment news.”

 

A pause from Reese’s end. “Glad to know you’re human, catching up on what the Kardashians are up to.”

 

“I am not keeping up with the Kardashians-“

 

“Surprised to know you know the name of the show-“

 

“Goddamnit, Reese I’m-“

 

Charlie stops, fully realising what Reese was trying to do. “I’m trying to make this as casual as possible for the two of us. Nothing like a Monday morning banter that would make mom roll her eyes at us.”

 

It’s the first time she’s entered his thoughts. _Leona,_ Charlie whispers.

 

And he remembers, fragments of his weekend. Screaming, yelling, walking out. Spilled bourbon somewhere in between.

 

“Charlie?”

 

Of course, he can’t easily say to Reese, “Well, I think I had a fight with your mother, so I stayed in my old apartment,” to Reese now. He may need to edit out some things.

 

“I remember watching the news. They were discussing about the charity event last Saturday.”

 

“Oh yeah? I… Yeah. That.”

 

“You know which event I’m talking about?”

 

“I think. Was that the one where the event itself was forgotten-“

 

“Because everyone else was talking about Leona’s gown?”

 

“That’s the one. I called her up. She dismissed me. Okay, she answered, but she shushed me.”

 

“It was a weekend, but I was seriously considering waking up my entire news division to warn them about reporting that as news.”

 

“I thought you had a strict ‘Don’t report on the Lansings’ policy?”

 

“Over the years, there were some exceptions. The lines got blurred.”

 

“You have to do something about that.”

 

“Yessir.”

 

He hears Reese sigh.

 

“It’s not much of what she wore. Part of it. Well, it was also… Her companion.”

 

_Paul_ , Charlie gives the name.

 

“He’s got to be around the same age as I am Charlie. Apparently, he’s my mom’s new personal assistant? My ass. After what had happened, you’d think she’d be careful.”

 

“After what happened?”

 

“That guy she went out with. Before this younger guy. You wouldn’t know him.”

 

That made Charlie sigh; it was tempting to tell Reese right there, “I know him Reese. I know that sonnovabitch.” Instead, he’s stuck in a chair, blindfolded, talking to someone else through a radio.

 

If he could only see himself right now, he knows how pitiful he must look like.

 

* * *

 

_Warm up is over, play time is about to begin._

 

_He reaches for the radio, whistles loudly over the microphone. Charlie and Reese’s cursing gave him the first smile of the day._

 

_“Hello, Charlie.”_

 

_Nothing from Charlie. Until._

 

_His head looks up, perhaps his identity has dawned on Charlie._

 

_“Sonnovabitch.”_

 

_He leans back on his chair, resting his feet on the table, adjusting his headset._

 

_“And I missed you too. Comfy, Charlie? What do you need? Glass of bourbon? Cushion?”_

 

_Charlie’s agitated now, he’s trying to break out from the handcuffs. He gives up on that attempt._

 

_“Something to whoop your ass, fucker.”_

 

_“I think you need a gag to keep that smart-ass mouth of yours shut.”_

 

_He turns his attention to the other one. “And how about you Reese? Did you sleep well? Or did you wish you slept well last night?”_

 

_“Don’t answer him Reese, keep quiet.”_

 

_“Charlie, I wasn’t talking to you, I was asking Reese. Don’t be rude. Again, I ask… How are you, Mr. Lansing?”_

 

_But Reese follows Charlie, choosing to keep his mouth shut._

 

_Perhaps, a little provocation._

 

_“And I thought you were his boss of him, Reese? Why are you following his orders?”_

 

_Silence. Very well._

 

_“It’s almost 10:30 now, I’m pretty sure mommy is getting worried where ickle little Reesey is…”_

 

_Reese starts to look at his left, right, knowing very well that he’s seeing nothing._

 

_“Time to call mommy.”_

 

* * *

 

If you looked from the outside, you’d never believe that they’re in a dire situation right there and then.

 

And yet, as Leona looked from her place inside Will’s office, there was a newsroom working round the clock, business as usual. _Charlie’s newsroom_ , she tells herself, as producers, researchers, interns, staff and crew go on as if Will and Mac didn’t just deliver devastating news a few minutes ago.

 

_What were they doing?_ she asked, for the hundredth time that morning.

 

She knows Matthew and Paul were doing what they can - it was a part of their job. As their personal “security detail”, they saw to it that the two of them were safe, and that any threat -  immediate or hypothetical, was neutralised.

 

_Two of them,_ her inner voice mocked.

 

And because of one weekend, just this past weekend, one of their own was down, a half of the pair they were protecting was taken.

 

Leona looks at Paul, at the man who, right now, has become tabloid fodder. The noise asking, “Who is this young man Leona Lansing brought along?”

 

Paul shrugged it off when he saw his news feed that Sunday morning. “They don’t know the real thing ma’am. I don’t mind covering for Silver.”

 

And she remembers.

 

At the party, when she insisted a dance from Paul. He insists on keeping a safe distance, yet she had nudged him closer to her.

 

A shy smile from the young man’s lips, then he jokes, “Silver will kill me for this.”

 

She shakes her head. “I’ve got your back.”

 

“Ma’am, as always, I have yours. And so does he.”

 

Leona lets him see the glimmer of anger in her eyes. “He does not.”

 

She dared him to say more. Instead, he chose to be quiet.

 

Paul paces back and forth at the what space he could, currently in a conversation with someone over the phone, describing the iPhones with great detail.

 

“Packaging appears to be the same, delivered by the mailroom. The guys downstairs claim that these came from the weekend distribution, which have been checked and cleared for delivery. Reviewed the footage, nothing suspicious at first glance. Tape should be on your way for further checking.”

 

Paul looks at her, offers a reassuring smile. She nods at him, a reassurance of appreciation at what they have been doing. Suddenly, her phone beeps, and for one foolish moment, she wishes it was something to tell her that it was time to wake up from a dream.

 

A news alert comes instead.

 

She takes a look, and once again, another tabloid article about the charity event. Curious minds wondering who Paul was to her, and comments on how daring she was that night.

 

“A new lover for Leona?”, the photo’s caption screamed.

 

Another memory comes rushing to her.

 

The way his voice broke when he said those words that night.

 

_I will never be worthy of you._

 

Tears dared to escape her again.

 

This stubbornness, this need of her to protect what they had. It brings her back, to why he had lost him in the first place.

 

Cruel reflections are broken when she sees Matthew come in through the floor, prompting Will and Mac to follow him back to the office. Leona stood up from the chair she has stayed for some time.

 

“Well?” she wanted news, and anything less is unacceptable.

 

Matthew looked like he was about to deliver bad news.

 

“Mrs. Lansing, the lab is trying to process out the security footage provided by Mr. Skinner’s apartment manager. Initial findings show that the perpetrators might have used a jammer to cover up any footage that occurred between five o’clock and six o’clock in the evening.”

 

Paul looked at Leona, then straightened up. “We have been trying to contact him around that time. Nothing.”

 

“Lab’s trying to clear up what they can.”

 

Will raised his hand, just for the sake of being acknowledged. “Shouldn’t we be trying to inform someone from the authorities about this?” 

 

Matthew shook is head in reply. “We have a list of suspects Mr. McAvoy. Some of them are connected to authorities. Moles might trip up on any attempt, and would make the situation worse.”

 

“Jesus Christ,” Will takes a moment to compose himself, only to sit down on his chair. “Charlie has enemies in high places?”

 

Paul muttered to himself, “I wouldn’t exactly call him high.”

 

Without warning, in came another man in a suit, slightly shorter than Matthew and Paul, looking worse for wear.

 

“Mrs. Lansing, I’m so sorry… I-“

 

Leona shook her head, prompting him to stop whatever he wanted to say. Paul took it upon himself to introduce this new addition.

 

“Mr. McAvoy, Ms. McHale, this is Marc Cruz, the third member of Mr. Skinner’s security detail-“

 

Marc had cut him off.

 

“I was the one in charge of Mr. Skinner’s security last night. He had insisted on spending at his apartment rather than-“ 

 

Paul had given a glare that made him proceed with caution.

 

“Rather than… His usual place.”

 

Will crossed his arms. “What place would that be?”

 

“His office.”

 

Mac raised an eyebrow at that. “He’s been spending nights at his office?”

 

Marc could only nod in reply. “Work was… Affecting him, ma’am.”

 

The sigh from Will is audible. “We’ve reported something. Something that set off someone and who knows how far that someone’s going for the sake of it.”

 

“You don’t think it could be related to Genoa?”

 

“How?”

 

“Think about it. Reese and Charlie were taken. Reese refused to fire all of us who were responsible. Charlie, well… Charlie wanted to take the fall for all of us.”

 

Matthew spoke up. “Mr. Skinner takes is time to personally browse through all the news items ACN has reported. If he believes anything might lead to another Genoa event, he asked us to do a small background check and comparison to any threats that our firm looks into.”

 

Leona looks at Paul for guidance. These, she did not know. _Is all of this true?,_ she seemed to ask with that glance.

 

Paul nods. 

 

_What has Charlie been doing?_

 

Leona’s reverie was broken by the iPhones ringing. Matthew looks at them, “An unknown number,” he tells all those who were present. He brings out his phone, then nods at Leona. 

 

She picked up the white iPhone. “Hello?” she answered. “This is Leona Lansing,”

 

“Hello, Sunshine.”

 

* * *

 

_He was sure that Leona was frozen on whatever spot she was on. Oh how he wish he could see her face._

 

_“Put it on speakerphone, it’s all right. Let Charlie’s Angels hear me.”_

 

_He heard Matthew’s voice from the other end. “Mrs. Lansing?”_

 

_“Hello boys!” he bellowed, relishing the moment. “How does it feel to fail on your directive?”_

 

_“Sonnvabitch, that’s-“_

 

_“Yes, yes, hi to you, especially you Markie boy. Sorry for the rough greeting, but, I had to have Charlie for a while. You were a huge block to making that happen.”_

 

_“Where was I. Ah, yes. Can’t make this too long, minutes cost like a bitch, you know? Anyway. So you’ve got a slight glimmer of what’s going on right now. On one hand, the up and coming heir to the Atlantis World Media empire, on the other hand, the downtrodden has-been of Atlantis Cable News… Beaten? Not quite… Unconscious? Well, not now… Sunshine, you’d be happy to know that Reese and Charlie are now awake… And Charlie is doing his very best to calm him down.”_

 

_He changes his tone to a that of a game show host._

 

_“Before you lie two iPhones, one - will lead you to where Reese is, the other, Charlie. To know where they are simply unlock the phone using the month and day of their birthdays. Be warned, however, that you can only choose one - unlock both, and you are sure to send them to their early, if not well deserved deaths.”_

 

_Will cuts him off. “Who is this? Who the fuck are you?”_

 

_“Temper, temper, William. That will not help Charlie at all. You need to listen to my instructions, lest you be the one to have their blood on your hands…”_

 

_“Will, calm down, please.” he hears Mac’s muffled attempts._

 

_He continues. “When one phone is unlocked, it will show you the address to where Reese, or Charlie is! Then, the other phone will automatically give you a countdown of the last remaining minutes of Charlie’s or Reese’s life._

 

_Oh, and don’t even attempt to hack into those phones. Matthew? Yeah, your security firm might have some fancy decryption program you could use. Pretty pointless, as those babies have been jailbroken and encrypted with a state-of-the-art operating system those guys at Apple could only dream of. You will get NOTHING from that avenue._

 

_You have… Well, let me check… One, two, three, four… Eleven more hours to decide. By the end of that time, and you still haven’t picked the winner, then both go out with a bang. Doesn’t that sound fun?”_

 

_“You sick bastard!” Leona screams at him._

 

_“Sweet Sunshine, you know me best.”_

 

_Ooops. He slipped._

 

* * *

 

“Gotta go now, I think Reese is trying to scream something, hold on… Let me just get…”

 

“MOM! MOM I’M OKAY! I’M-“

 

“REESE!”

 

“Ah, it’s just the regular old reassurances…”

 

Leona’s pacing right then, wringing her hands together, fighting the tears from falling. She breathes in deep, and prays that her bluff will work.

 

“What do you want? Money? Shares?  Your own private yacht?”

 

His laugh sends a chill down her spine.

 

“None of those things Sunshine. Almost had them once, they were practically in my hands. But somehow… They got away. No no no, my Sunshine. This is something that money can never buy.”

 

She looks at the her, as of now, useless security detail; they knew more or less what the answer was.

 

“What?”

 

“The feeling of losing something precious in your life. It’s a great, rather eye-opening feeling you could have.”

 

* * *

 

Money may not be in his list of demands right now. But Leona knew how to use hers.

 

Charlie’s security detail, or rather, _their_ security detail, had so far, proven their worth to Charlie and Leona. Providing protection as needed, as discreet as the two of them desired. 

 

Matthew had been proud of the service they have provided. It had been going on well for months now. 

 

Until yesterday.

 

He was determined to be in the right light. Pulling out his phone, he browsed through the list of security apps. His security firm’s R and D division made him do field testing on some of these, and there was one that could prove it’s worth.

 

He started to do a Force Pair on the white iPhone. According to the guys at the lab, the app would allow him access to a locked phone to see it’s contents, provided the phone was connected or in active use. 

 

This situation seemed the perfect way to test it.

 

His phone gave a quick buzz; a peek and he saw that the pairing was successful. Immediately, the app did a quick scan of the phone -

 

“Hold on, hold on… Awww, Matthew, did you not hear what I just said? State-of-the-art OS. I’m seeing you’re trying to Force Pair your way through the phone. Clever boy, I can see why Leona hired you. I’m gonna let that pass, or I am going to give Leona only ten hours to decide which of her boys is she gonna save, okay?”

 

Goddamnit.

 

Leona looks at Matthew, who disconnects the pairing, pocketing his phone right away.

 

“Good boy. Remember Sunshine, eleven hours. Choose carefully, and good luck!”

 

The call was cut, leaving behind the silence and the burden of playing with lives.

 

* * *

 

Reese calmed down, or at least, he had stopped screaming himself hoarse. 

 

“I’m okay, mom…” he cries, one last time. He’s heard what… Whoever this guy is, had to say about their current predicament. 

 

He hears Charlie on the other end. “Calm down Reese, just… Calm down… Please…”

 

Charlie.

 

He’d been trying to calm him down ever since their first contact with each other.

 

And he knew who that guy was.

 

“Charlie,” he asks. “What the fuck is going on?”

 

* * *

 

He wished he could answer straight away. 

 

Charlie knew who their tormentor was. He knew why he was doing it.

 

He’s just now sure if Reese could handle what he had to say.

 

* * *

 

Matthew has done the quick assessment of the situation.

 

He was done playing games.

 

He stands up straight, adjusts his tie, then nods at Leona.

 

“I’ll provide a briefing by the next hour. We now have more facts, I think we can plan out something with them. We may need to inform affected parties.”

 

Paul and Marc seemed to understand where they were going.

 

“I’ll go get Mrs. Skinner-“ Marc started, only for Paul to cut him off.

 

“I’ll do that. Their home in Connecticut?”

 

Marc shakes his head. “Mrs. Skinner and Sophie are coming back from the week they spent in London. Their flight should be coming in around now.”

 

Matthew turns to Paul, “Secure Mrs. Skinner and her daughters. Bring them right here to ACN. He sounds like his issue is with Mr. Skinner, and he has him. But we’re not taking any chances.”

 

Paul makes his way out. “Katy Skinner has two boys, I might as well bring them in too.”

 

“Okay. But don’t try to alarm them. The only one who has to know is Mrs. Skinner.”

 

Matthew looks at Marc, who he knew was already blaming himself. He tries to remember what he read in Marc’s personnel profile: he had tendencies to overcompensate when faced with a failed situation.

 

He needs all his men in good shape during this time.

 

“Marc,” he whispers, as Paul leaves for the airport. “I know you want to do more right now, you want to get Silver and Prince back. God knows we all do. I don’t need you to be out there being reckless. I need you to be smart. You were whipped. Right now, the best thing you know you can do is to guard our remaining asset. And not just physically guard her - you know how she is. You’re the last person Sil- You’re the last person Charlie was with. Be there for her.”

 

Marc nods, but he couldn’t help to give the truth. “You and I know that she knows what happened. She knows that it’s her fault.”

 

“Well… We’re going to try our best to make her not feel that way.”

 


End file.
